Eyes on the Ground

I just received a call from the mayor of Pasco, Washington. It seems that the construction of the next Dutch Bros location, at the intersection of Burden Blvd. and Convention Place, is nearing completion. Matt's convinced the store will be open in time for a June 19th visit during Dutch Treat. I can't wait. Hopefully, there'll be at least one city official on hand for a photo op.

A Tale of Two Packages

I just purchased two new helmet visors on Amazon. The visors, one clear and one dark tinted, shipped from two different companies. The packaging of the two gives some insight into how we can approach life.

The package on the right is from Motorcycle Superstore of Louisville, Kentucky. This visor came neatly boxed with Fill-Air inflatable cushions to protect the contents. The visor was still in all of it’s OEM wrapping, clearly indicating it was an authentic Shoei brand product. The box was secured with packing tape embossed with the Motorcycle Superstore name; very professional. A comprehensive invoice thanking me for my order completes the package. The price was $35.99 and $6.99 for shipping

The package on the left is from PGR Motor of La Verne, California. This visor had protective plastic on it, but no Shoei labeling. The visor was placed in a UPS plastic shipping bag, presumably lifted from a local UPS store. That was then placed in a USPS Priority Shipping box, again presumably procured from a local post office at no charge to PGR. The box was then wrapped in plain brown paper to avoid the more costly priority shipping rates. There was no invoice, customer service phone number or any communication of any kind in the package. The price was $36.99 and $7.49 shipping.

I’ll make sure not to give Mr. Kevin Chen of PGR Motor any more of my business. Quite frankly, I don’t see a lot of pride in his work and I spend enough time dealing with that in my 9 to 5 life. Additionally, I believe he’s a thief, stealing from both UPS and the USPS to increase his profit margin. And that bothers me even more.

Documenting Dutch Treat, Part I

Riding to 160 Dutch Bros. Coffee locations in as many hours is no small feat. Even some experienced long distance motorcyclists feel it’s pretty ambitious. Just so there’s no question, I’ve decided to document the ride to Iron Butt Association standards. That means receipts and photographs.

Here’s an example of a photo you’ll see from each Dutch Bros. location. The whiteboard attached to the lid of my top case will be used to list the number of the stop as it correlates to my route. The photos will be taken with my phone and immediately up loaded to this blog and www.facebook.com/shellyshouse Thanks to Sheila and Gracie of the Monmouth Dutch Bros. for serving as my models.